Dodge, Duck, Dip, Dive, and Donate

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In honor of pride month, luxury fitness center Equinox has released LGBTQAlphabet, a visually stunning video that lays out ABC’s of LGBTQ from A for ally to Z for ze (a non-gendered pronoun.) Along with vignettes that bring each word to life through dance, performance, and of course exercise, there are accompanying voiceovers from real members of the LGBTQ community telling their stories, making each word more personal and powerful. The provocative video effectively showcases 26 unique facets of the LGBTQ experience in a unique way.

Ben Stiller is dodging, ducking, dipping, diving, and dodging (again) for a good cause. To raise money for the Stiller Foundation, an organization focused on improving educational opportunities in Haiti, the actor is hosting a charity dodge ball game. By donating just $10, people can enter to be one of the lucky 100 people to play in an epicDodgeBallrematch–Team Globo Gym versus Average Joe’s as per the 2004 film. For increasing amounts, contestants can receive more entries and purchase merchandise such as signed DoddgeBall scripts, Stiller’s costume from the film, merch, and more. In addition to participating in the game, winners will receive travel accommodations and lunch with Stiller after the game, all for a good cause.

Design firm, The Mural Agency is taking the saying “Do it for ‘gram” to new extremes painting three homes in Los Angeles bright pink. Helmed by Matty Mo–or @themostfamousartist–as he’s known on Instagram, The Mural Agency specializes in creating and installing Instagram-able experiences all over the world. The newly pink houses are soon to be demolished to make way for a 45-unit apartment complex but in the meantime, thousands of Los Angelinos are flocking to capture a picture for their Instagram feeds. Not only does this stunt showcase just how far people are willing to go for their “aesthetic” it’s a testament to the power of an Instagram-able experience to draw a crowd.

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This week, Penguin Random House made Black Mirror fan’s dreams comes true by announcing a forthcoming book. An anthology series of original short-stories by a variety of authors yet to be announced, the book will take place in the same universe as the cult-hit Netflix series and–like the series–will “tap into our collective unease about the modern world.” Edited by Charlie Brooker, the book is due for release early next year and is available for pre-order now. As people continue to worry about the state of the world we predict even more Black Mirror andHandmaid’s Tale-esque series to come.

Airbnb is encouraging their community of hosts to open their homes to some of the people who need it the most, refugees. Their new program allows Airbnb hosts to sign up to be matched with people in need of temporary shelter. Keeping with the apps flexible nature, hosts are able to specify time frames as little as one night and up to three months. All refugees in the program are vetted by reputable organizations such as the International Rescue Committee (IRC). The company that revolutionized the rental business is putting their influence to good use by encouraging its community to help those in need.

For those who can’t get enough of unboxing videos–a prevalent format on YouTube–comes Unboxed, an app dedicated to the reveal and review style videos. Unboxed is the first in a series of planned apps from Packagd, a startup helmed by founding Hulu CTO, Eric Feng aimed at selling merchandise using video like a modern day home shopping network. The app will allow users to watch unboxing videos and purchase the products within the app. We predicted the rise of old-fashioned selling techniques in our January Report The Future Ofand will dive deeper into the growing potential of video to sell products digitally in our upcoming summer report.